LADWP receives documents to expand transmission line

September 2, 2011

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management have released the draft environmental documents required to expand a power transmission line needed to access renewable energy resources in the Tehachapi Mountains and areas.

The proposed Barren Ridge Renewable Transmission Project (BRRTP) would provide about 1,100 MW of additional power transmission capacity to access vital wind and solar resources that are necessary for LADWP to meet the state-mandated 33 percent renewable energy standard (RPS). The RPS requires electric utilities in to provide at least one-third of their energy from renewable resources by 2020.

The $233 million project will span approximately 75 miles from the Mojave Desert in south to the . It will extend another 12 miles west to the Castaic Power Plant, a pump-storage generating facility.

Other components of the BRRTP include:

Expanding the existing Barren Ridge Switching Station, located about 15 miles north of Mojave;

Building a new switching station in located just north of Santa Clarita;

Constructing a new 230 kilovolt (kV) transmission line from the Barren Ridge Switching Station to the proposed Haskell Canyon Switching Station.

Installing a 12-mile, 230 kV line on existing structures from to the Castaic Power Plant, and

Installing larger capacity conductors between the Barren Ridge Switching Station and Rinaldi Substation.